Confronting the Darkness

In our culture today, no one wants to speak up for what is true. The motto of modern society could be “I can tolerate anyone except someone who is intolerant.”

If someone dares to say, “I think that is wrong” or “I disagree with that” or, even worse, “The Bible says, . . .” they are labeled as intolerant, judgmental, narrow-minded, and bigoted.

As Christians, however, we cannot tolerate sin. We are to confront sin with intolerance and speak the truth—but we must speak the truth in love. We need to compassionately and lovingly explain what is true.

The apostle Paul warned the believers in Ephesus, “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them” (Ephesians 5:11 NLT).

I don’t envy the responsibility of doctors who have to deliver bad news to a patient. No doubt they would love to be able to say that everything is fine. But in good conscience, they can’t do that, because the test results say otherwise. It’s difficult. It’s uncomfortable. But they have to tell the truth.

We Christians must do the same. But we are dealing with something far more serious. We’re talking about eternal separation from God.

We love to tell people that God loves them and has compassion on them. And of course, that is true. Yet we are reluctant to say they are sinners who are separated from God. We need to tell the truth.

Our culture needs to hear the truth. Yes, it’s easier to blend into the background and avoid offending anyone. But do we want to offend God? If we don’t tell the whole truth, then we will.

Every believer is called to declare the whole counsel of God. He has called us to preach the gospel and to be His representatives. Therefore, we must do our part and be faithful to Him.